Refuse collecting vehicle



July 25, 1939. H. c. FRENTZELEJRH ET 5|. 2,167,148

REFUSE COLLECTING VEHICLE Filed June 13,- l938 1 p2 Sheets-Sfieet 1 July 25; 1939. H. c. FRENTZEL. JR,, LET AL 2,1

RERUSE COLLECTING VEBICLE Filed-June 13, 1938' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 25, 1939 nEFU'sE comac'rmq vsnrcnn Herman C. Frentzel, Jr., ShorewoocLand Carl G. Novotny, Milwaukee, Wis, assignors to Elie Heil 00., Milwaukee, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Application June 13, 1938, Serial No. 213,36&

8 Claims.

Our invention relates generally toimprovementsin the art of handling refuse such as ashes and garbage, and relates more specifically to improvements in the construction and oper- 5 aticn of vehicles for collecting, transporting and It has long been common commercial practice to utilize so-called refuse trucks of various types for collecting snow and other refuse, and for transporting and subsequently depositing the 15 same upon dumps or elsewhere. As shown in Patent No. 983,906, granted February 14, 1911, it has heretofore been proposed to provide a refuse collecting and transporting vehicle wherein an endless conveyor provided with a series of flights,

20 is utilized to remove refuse from a receptacle disposed rearwardly of the vehicle and to elevate the refuse along the tailgate and over the top of the vehicle, body, so as to gradually load the body proceeding in a direction away from 25 the tail gate while simultaneously leveling the load. It has also been proposed as shown in Patent No. 945,330, granted January 4, 1910, to attach the receptacle or elevator boot for receiving the refuse preparatory to elevation there- 30 of, directly to the vehicle adjacent the lower rear'portion of the tail gate; and it has been found desirable when such a loading boot or hopper is used, to provide some means for-preventing abnormal objects admitted with the ref- 35 use from jamming between the conveyor and its housing. In Patent No. 1,915,927, granted June 27, 1933, is shown a loading hopper-or elevator boot having the lower portion pivotally suspended and held in normal position by means of springs which will permit the pivoted section to swing away from the conveyor in case overloading occurs; and while this assemblage may function to produce the desired results, it is undesirably complicated and introduces danger of in- 4.5 jury toattendants and others and loss of time, due to breakage of the springs, and it is also too noisy for night use.

' It is therefore -a more specific object of our present invention to provide an improved assemo blage for loading a refuse truck and for relieving the loading elevator from excessive stress due to admission of abnormal objects with the refuse, which ;is extremely safe and quiet in operation.

In accordance with our improvement, we pro- 55 vide a fixed path oftravel for the elevating and distributing conveyor at the loading hopper or boot, and we also provide for'admission of the. successive batches of refuse so that the continuously advancing conveyor flights-will remove the material from the bottom of the accumu- 5 lated batches. In this manner, the refuse will be gradually removed from a rigid hopper without danger of having the travel of the conveyor flights obstructed either by small or large objects admitted with the successive batches, or by an abnormal accumulation of the material; and the elimination of movable hopper sections and springs obviates, danger of breakage and provides an extremely rigid, quiet and durable assemblage which can be manufactured at minimum cost.

A clear conception of an embodiment of our present invention, and of the mode of constructing and of utilizing refuse collecting vehicles built in accordance with the improvement, may go be had by referring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is aside elevation of the rear body por- 25 tion of a refuse collecting and transporting vehicle, having one of our improved loading rigs associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a enlarged part sectional side elevation of the improved loading hopper or elevator boot;

Fig.- 3 is a similarly enlarged part sectional rear view of the loading boot; and

Fig. 4, is a likewise enlarged plan view of the loading rig with one of the closure covers omitted .and the other partially omitted.

While our invention has .been shown and described herein as being specifically applied to a rearwardly tiltable refuse collecting body having the loading rig associated with the rear tail 4 gate thereof, it is not our intention to thereby unnecessarily restrict the scope, since the novel features may obviously be more generally applied.

Referring to the drawings, the refuse collect- 5 a pivot I: at the upper end thereof to permit free delivery of the receptacle contentswhen the body. is tilted rearwardly. The front side portions of the receptacle 9 are provided with inspection doors I, and an endless conveyor I 5 having a series of material transporting buckets or flights I6 is concealed within the top closure II and within a rear closure or housing l1 carried by the tail gate l2. The endless conveyor I5 is adapted to be driven from the propelling motor of the vehicle, through gearing l9 coacting withthe upper front tensioning sprocket of the conveyor; and the medial portion of the conveyor ll coacts with another sprocket disposed concentric withthe pivot Hi. The lower rear portion l9 of the housing I! is enlarged and has guide rails- 20 therein which are cooperable with the conveyor rollers 2| to caus the lower end portion of the conveyor to traverse a rather large loop shaped path, see Figs. 1 and 2. The opposite sides of the ered within the conveyor loop will be carried upwardly along the inclined tail gate I2, by the advancing flights I6, and will be delivered into the upper portion of the receptacle 9 proceeding in a direction forwardly away from the tail gate, and the-space between the inclined runs or stretches of the conveyor l5 above the tail gate I2 is preferablyfree from obstruction. The chutes 22 may also be provided with enlarged upper portions 24, besides the covers 23, for the purpose of preventing undesirable spilling of the material being delivered into these chutes.

During normal'use of our improved refuse collecting and transporting assemblage, the receptacle 9 will be positioned as shown in Fig. 1 with the tail gate l2 closing the rear end of the body. when it becomes desirable to load the receptacle 9, the conveyor I! should first be placed in operation to cause the rollers 2| to constantly advance the successive flights I9 alonga flxed path and in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l. The covers 29 may then be opened and material may be deposited into the lower housing portion l9 through the chutes 22. The successive batches of refuse which are thus admitted to the interior of the lower conveyor loop within the housing portionl9, accumulate in the path of the advancing buckets or flights I9 and as these flights proceed beneath the accumulatedrefuse they remove layers or slices of the material and carry the same forwardly and upwardly-along the inclined tailgate l2 ultimately delivering the refuse into the. receptacle 9 overthe top of the tail gate. The material thus delivered into the receptacle 9, at flrst piles up upon the bottom Ill, adjacent to the front side of the tail gate l2; and when the pile reaches the top of the receptacle, the subsequent advancing flights I level the accumulated refuse and carry their charges forward until the receptacle 9 is flrially completely fllled. The conveyor ll may then be stopped, and when the load has been transported to the desired destination, the receptacle 9 may be tilted and the end gate l2 may be swung rearwardly so as to release-the load and permit dumping thereof by gravity. After dumping has been effected, the receptacle 9 and end gate 12 may be returned tonormal position ready for the reception of an other load.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will 5 be apparent that our present invention provides a simple, compact and durable assemblage for facilitating loading of a vehicle body with refuse or the like with the aid of an endless conveyor. By admitting the material to the elevator loading 10 hopper or boot above the horizontally advancing su'cessive flights l9, material does not accumulate beneath the conveyor and cannot become lodged beneath the flights regardless of the quantity of material admitted and-it is therefore unnecessary to provide a releasable boot section for relieving the conveyor due to abnormal loading. The successive flights l6 advancing beneath the accumulated refuse within the housing portion l9 will constantly shear of! approximately equal quantitles of the material without crushing the particles as with the prior assemblages, and will remove excessively large objects without unduly stressing the conveyor l5. These large objects if admitted through either chute 22, will also pass through the space between the top and-bottom stretches ofthe conveyor above the tail gate H, which is unobstructed, and the fixed rails 29 will always guide the flights l9 along a definite course or path. The improved assemblage may be rigidly built, and is accessible for loading from the ground at either side, and has proven highly satisfactory in actual use. The assemblage also presents a neat appearance, is extremely quiet in operation, and may obviously be manufacturedat moderate cost and is safe in every respect.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction or to the precise mode of use, herein shown, and described, for various modifications 4 within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art. e We claim: a 1. In combination, a vehicle having a tiltable load receiving body and an inclined tiltable tail gate at the delivery end thereof, a conveyor hav- 'ing an endless series of material transporting T flights-movable over said body and upwardly along said tail gate, flxed supporting rails for the edge portions of said conveyor forming open loops near the lower end of said wall, and means for delivering material through said rail loops on top of said flights while in motion and while travelling toward said inclined tail gate.

2. In combination, a vehicle having a tiltable load receiving body and an inclined tiltable tail gate at the delivery end thereof, an endless conveyor having an endless series of material transporting flights movable over said body and upwardly along said. tail gate, flxed supporting and guiding rails for the opposite side edge portions of said conveyor forming open loops near the lower end of said wall, and means for depositing bulk material through said loops and downwardly into the path of said flights while the same are moving toward the lower end of said inclined tail gate..

3. In combination, a vehicle having a tiltable load receiving body provided with an independently tiltable inclined-tail gate, an endless conveyor extending over said body and having a portion supported by and tiltable with said tail gate, said conveyor having a series of flights movable upwardly along said tail gate and along said body, open looped flxed side rails support- 7 arcane endless conveyor having a section tiltable with said end gate and provided with flights movable toward and upwardly along said end gate, a loading boot having a horizontal material receiving surface extending toward and rigidly secured to said tail gate and over which said flights are movable, and means for depositing bulk material upon said surface through the path of travel of said flights. i

5. In combination, a vehicle having a body provided with an inclined tiltable tail gate, an endless conveyor having a section comprising inclined parallel stretches tiltable with said end gate and an enlarged loop connecting the lower ends of said stretches, said conveyor being provided with flights movable around said loop toward and upwardly along said tail gate, a loading boot having a lower material receiving surfacebeneath usaid loop and extending toward said tail gate and along which said flights are movable, and means for depositing bulk material upon said surface through the open sides of said loop and through the path of travel of said flights at the bottom of the conveyor, loop.

6. In combination, a vehicle having a body provided with an inclined tiltable tail gate, an endless conveyor having a section comprising inclined parallel stretches tiltable with said end gate and anenlarged loop connecting the lower ends of said stretches, said conveyor being provided with flights movable around said loop toward and upwardly along said tail gate, looped rails for supporting the lower looped portion of said conveyor and being carried by said tailgate, a loading boot having a material receiving surface disposed between said rails beneath said loop and extending toward said tail gate, said flights being movable along said surface andalong said tail gate, and means for depositing bulk material through said looped rails and upon said surface and through the path of travel of said flights at the bottom of the conveyor loop.

7. In combination, a vehicle having a body provided with an inclined movable tail gate, an endless conveyor comprising inclined parallel stretches movable with said tail gate and an enlarged loop connecting the lower ends of Said bulk material from either side directly upon said surface through the'open sides of said loop and through the path of travel of said flights at the bottom of the conveyor loop.

8. In combination, a vehicle having a tiltable body provided with an inclined independently tiltable tail gate, a conveyor having inclinedoppositely movable stretches carried by and disposed parallel to said and gate and an enlarged loop connecting the lower ends of said stretches, said conveyor being provided with flights movable along said stretches and around said loop toward and upwardly along said tall gate, and said tail gate having an integral rearwardly projecting lower portion disposed directly beneath-said loop,- and means for depositing bulk material through the opposite open sides of said loop and downwardly through the lower portion thereof onto said rearwardly projecting tail gate portion.

HERMAN C. FRENTZEL, JR. CARL G. NQVOTNY; 

